


Family Doesn't End With Blood

by Huntress79



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Foster Care, Foster Parent Natasha Romanoff, Gen, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Precious Peter Parker, Social Worker Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23797066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: Once upon a time, they were best friends on the school yard. Then life caused them to drift apart. Now, they might fulfill a common dream, together.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa (Background), Phil Coulson/Melinda May (background), Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 6
Collections: Gen Freeform Exchange2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> written for GenFreeformExchange 2020 and HogwartsToAlexandria. Set in a non-powers, modern day AU. Title comes from a quote from another favorite fandom of mine, "Supernatural". Marie, I hope you like what my mind has cooked up for you. Enjoy!

*********************

Steve and Natasha met for the first time when she joined their school, and pretty much from the get-go, they hit it off. By the time school ended for the summer, they were almost attached at the hip, spending almost every second between classes together.

That all hardly changed until their last year, even when both became romantically involved with other people - Steve with Peggy, Nat with short-time fellow pupil Alexei -, their friends still could win any bet that come lunch time, they would find them huddled together on one of the corner tables in the cafeteria.

Then they were all released into the real world, all of them eager to be their best out there - and many a friendship was, more or less, torn apart that way, including Steve and Natasha. Sure, they kept some basic contact, but between Natasha touring the world as a dancer and Steve buried into books at the University, the times where they actually talked to each other became few and far between.

At some point, contact between them came to an almost complete halt. A signed card that came in two days after his birthday was the only thing Steve heard of her that year, and by Christmas, he gave up contacting her completely, since the text he sent her for her birthday never got replied to.

Besides, his new job as a social worker took up most of his time, anyway. “Thanks” to some health issues, Steve was considered unfit for any kind of active military service. So, after a long talk to his foster father Abraham Erskine and his best friend Bucky, he became a social worker, intent on helping the weakest link of society, the children.

*********************

Being back in New York after everything felt… strange. Good, but strange.

Standing in front of the familiar brownstone that now was hers, Natasha let all the emotions go through her. The bitter part of her kept telling her that she was back to Square One, so to speak, that every single thing she did in the past years was for naught. The more positive part of her kept arguing against, and Natasha was just a passenger in their rollercoaster ride.

“As the saying goes - they always come back,” a sonorous voice suddenly spoke up next to her.

“Is that so, Mr. Coulson?” Natasha quipped, her eyes still trained on the house.

“It is,” he chuckled. “Welcome back, Natasha,” Phil said while spreading his arms. He and his wife Melinda not only were two of her favorite teachers back in high school, they also gave Natasha a home when she didn’t know anyone in the whole USA and encouraged her to follow her dream of becoming a lead dancer.

“Gosh, Phil, you haven’t changed a bit. What’s your secret? Have you found a fountain of youth?”

“Not quite, but my marriage is still going strong, and Skye, our youngest daughter is thriving in life, just as you,” he answered, not even trying to keep the smile from either his face or his voice.

“That’s wonderful to hear,” Natasha gave back, “but tell me: how did you know where to find me? I mean, there’s nobody who knows I’m back.”

“Ah, you know I can’t tell you, dear.” Natasha’s only reply was an arched eyebrow. “Okay, I kept track of this house over the years, and the guy who sold it to you told me he would give you the keys to it today.”

“And here we are,” a third voice cut in, and both Phil and Natasha turned to see a rather small man emerging from the house. “Hello Phil, hello Miss, please come in.”

“Thank you, Stan,” Phil replied, holding the heavy oak door open for Natasha.

She was barely in the lobby, when her mind started replaying fragments of memories - children laughing, the pitter-patter of little feet up and down the stairs, the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen.

“You okay, Natasha?”

“Yes, yes, I am, I was just a bit lost in the memories, sorry.”

“No need to apologize, dear,” Phil replied with a soft smile. “If I remember correctly, you made some of your best memories here.”

“I did, and you and Melinda were quite involved in making them come true.”

“So, any plans with it?”

“Yes,” Natasha replied before heading into the large living room. “I actually wanna pick up where you and Melinda left off, and help children in need, like you two did for me, and Jemma, and Skye, and Fitz.”

“If that’s the case,” Phil began, “I can set you up with a good agency. I’m no longer a teacher these days, but Mel and I help out in schools when there’s a case of neglect or abuse.” He pulled out his wallet and dug through it until he came up with a calling card. “And I think you still remember that name, right?” he inquired while handing her the card.

And boy, did she remember that name! How could she not, when it was Steve Rogers, her first and best friend throughout high school?

“He’s a social worker?”

“Yup, and from what I have gathered, one of the best in all of New York. He has a strong moral code, and an almost uncanny ability to spot the bad examples of foster or adoptive parents. Nick hired him right out of University. And he apparently also has the gift of pairing up the right people.”

“Steve always had a good gut feeling,” Natasha continued, her fingers tracing the embossed letters on the card. “We stayed in contact for a few years after high school, but then, life got too busy for both us, and so we fell out of it.”

“I know - Bucky told me the last time he was visiting here, between a film set and a charity event.”

“They’re still friends, Steve and Bucky?”

“Of course,” Phil replied with a chuckle. “Remember their motto back then? ‘Til the end of the line’.”

“Oh, yeah, their infamous line.” Nat looked around the room. “What do you think, Phil? Should I follow that plan?”

“Natasha, what was the first thing Mel and I taught you?”

“Follow your dreams, follow your heart.”

“So, what does your heart say?”

“That it’s the right thing.” Natasha heaved a sigh. “But what if Steve, or any other social worker for that matter, sees the cracks in me and considers me unfit? You have to understand, Phil, the past years since I left here were not only good ones. There… there are scars on my soul that sometimes scare me, so who can guarantee me that they won’t scare any kids I take in?”

“I get it, Nat, and I’ve read some things on the web about the dark sides of your career,” at that, Natasha’s eyes widened in shock, “and yet, I see you standing here in front of me, a beautiful woman that has come out of all of this stronger than she was already before.”

“You… you really think so?” Natasha was blown away. Sure, Phil always had a soft spot for her, but this was a new height, even for him.

“Of course I do. Natasha, would I ever lie to you?”

“No, you wouldn’t,” she relented. “Okay, then I’m gonna give Steve a call in the morning and bring this show on the road.”

“That’s my girl.”

*********************

A couple of days later, Steve was just leaving St. Mary’s Hospital when his phone rang. Not recognizing the number, he took a deep breath, intent on using his “job” voice, as Sharon called it once.

“Shield Social Services, Rogers speaking.”

“Hi, Steve.”

Only two words, and yet, they opened a valve in his brain, releasing memories he thought were well stored away. That couldn’t be… or was it true?

“Natasha? Natasha Romanoff?”

“As they say, in the flesh, Steve. Listen, I’ve been referred to you by a good friend, and I was wondering if we could meet somewhere, maybe your offices.”

Deposting his folder and jacket on the backseat of his car, Steve took a deep breath. Was she in trouble?

“Hold on, hold on, Nat. You know what I do for a living?”

“Yep, the calling card I got says it all.” She took a deep breath, “Listen, I know it sounds a bit suspicious, but I really don’t want to talk about it on the phone.”

“Okay, give me a minute.” He turned to the small tablet next to him and scrolled through the calendar. “How does Thursday midday sound to you? We can have lunch together, and you can tell me why you need my help.”

“That… that sounds great, Steve. Any favorite place?”

At that, Steve had to smile. It might not be quite what she probably was used to after years of traveling the world and being surrounded with all kinds of luxury, but it still was his favorite place to take potential parents.

“Remember the old diner on the corner of Hicks and State?”

“Philips? That was run by a former Army general? Sure do,” Natasha replied.

“It now belongs to some good friends of mine, so we have some privacy if I ask for it.”

“Sounds great, Steve, I’ll be there. And I’m really looking forward to see you again.”

Before Steve could come up an answer, Natasha had hung up, leaving him to stare at the display of his mobile for a moment or two.

*********************

Thursday rolled around, and by seven in the morning, Natasha was a bundle of nerves. What if Steve didn’t approve of her, or her plan? If he thought it was just her way of compartmentalizing her problems?

Leaving the hotel, she opted for a short walk before hailing a cab to Brooklyn Heights. Once there, she couldn’t quite believe her eyes. The old diner was still standing, and while it had a new paint job and was, more or less, sparkling, it still had that old air to it.

Entering, Nat looked around - until her eyes landed on another familiar face.

“Well, if that’s not Tiny Dancer,” Daniel quipped with a broad smile, and in the next moment, he had his arms full of a redhead.

“Sousa! Since when are you working in a diner?” Natasha exclaimed. As far as she could remember, Daniel was trimmed to make it big in football.

“Since a car shattered my knee and therefore my sports career,” the Italo-American gave back, gesturing down his left leg. Only then, Natasha noticed the brace that was visible even under the leg of his trousers. “Besides, can’t let family down, can you?”

“Family?” Natasha echoed.

“He’s hopefully talking about me,” a voice called out from the kitchen area, revealing herself a moment later as Peggy Carter.

“Peggy? Oh, now it’s absolutely clear why Steve wanted to meet me here.”

“How’s that?” Daniel inquired while the two women hugged.

“He wants me to meet his wife, probably.”

At that, Peggy started to laugh, causing Natasha to give her a quizzical look.

“Natasha, honey, Steve and I broke up ages ago. I think it was not even a month after graduation. Like you, I traveled the world a bit, came back here when Uncle Chester fell ill and took over. At the same time, Daniel had his accident, and he was desperate for any job that could provide some money. So I hired him, and the rest is, as they say, history.”

“No way!”

“Yes way,” a new voice cut in from the doorway, and when Natasha turned around, her heart did a strange thing. Which she shoved back to the furthest corner of her mind in no time. She had an idea, a plan, and love for any adult wasn’t in it at all.

“Hi Steve.”

“Hi, Nat,” Steve replied while taking her in his arms. Which felt just as good and like home as it did all those years ago.

“So, where’s the fire, Red?” Steve quipped, leading her over to one of the corner booths of the diner.

“I’m gonna come back to New York, for good. Actually, I already have bought a place.”

“That’s… that’s good and wonderful, Nat,” Steve said around a sip from his coffee (that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere). “Still don’t see where I fit in.”

“I bought the old brownstone where I lived back then, with Phil and Melinda Coulson, and their other foster kids.” Natasha also took a sip before continuing. “And I want to do what they did for me and my foster siblings.”

“You wanna become a foster mom?”

“Yup. It’s probably one of the craziest things you ever heard, right?”

“God no, not even close to crazy.” Steve studied her for a moment. “Quite the contrary, Nat. I think it’s a wonderful idea.” He held up a hand. “But you have to realize now that this is a very long commitment you wanna take on. And it’s not all sunshine and roses, so to speak. The kids Shield takes care of are coming usually from the worst of places. They’ve been neglected all their lives, and most of them have no idea what being loved by a parent really means. And if that wasn’t enough, a lot of them come with a lot of baggage, both of the physical and psychological kind. Sure, we help with these things, since we have a lot of doctors and other medical personnel chipping in, but still, you might be the one they lash out to.”

“I understand, Steve, maybe even better than you might think.” By now, a plate full of sugary sweets had made it to their table, and Natasha bought herself some time with inhaling a pink-glazed donut. “I don’t know how much you have read in the past years about me, if anything…”

“Everything, Nat. I read everything, and I know what you’re hinting at. Just so you know, if you really want to become a foster mom, you’ll have to take a psychological eval. It’s in the regs, so I can’t really do anything about it, but I can see that you get the right psychologist assigned for it.”

“You would do that? Wouldn’t you get in trouble for that?”

“No, it’s a common practice. We have a pool of psychologists, and whoever seems to fit best for the parents in question gets the job.”

“Okay, let’s assume I jump through all those hoops in the correct way, what happens next?”

“That’s where I come in for real,” Steve answered with a small smile. “I’m gonna ask you like a gazillion questions, and then I look through our files to see which one of the children in our care fits the best to you. We meet, usually at an open place, with the kid, and you two get to know each other. If you and the kid click with each other, we do a ‘test week’, where the kid spends a week at your place, with daily visits from us to see how the two of you are doing. If we like what we see, you get to be the ‘official’ foster parent of this kid.” He locked his gaze with hers. “You’re still willing to do that all?”

“You can bet on it, Rogers.”

*********************

Several weeks later, the renovations at her place were almost done. Next to giving most rooms a new paint job, Natasha also had a starlift installed, in case she ever got a foster kid in a wheelchair. She and Darcy, another one of Peggy’s waiters at the diner, were just about to finish hanging up the curtains in the living room when her phone rang.

“Romanoff.”

“Hey Nat, it’s me, Steve.”

“Steve! Everything’s okay?”

“Yeah. Listen, I know this is kind of a surprise attack on you, but I’m looking for an emergency placement, only for a night for now.”

“What can you tell me about the kid?”

“He’s 10. Name’s Peter, and he’s currently mute. I can tell you why in person better.”

“Door’s open, Steve. Bring him.”

“There’s more, Nat.”

“What else, Steve?”

“I… I might have to stay overnight as well. I signed a guardianship form for him,...”

“No problem, I give you and Peter my bedroom and take one of the kids’ bedroom instead.”

“Nat, you’re a lifesaver, you know that?”

WIthout waiting for her to answer, Steve hung up.


	2. Chapter 2

*********************

Not even 20 minutes later, his car rolled to a stop in her garage, the gate closing behind them. For a moment, Steve stayed in the driver seat, eyes closed.

A small hand landing on his shoulder brought him back to reality, and when Steve looked up, he saw Natasha hovering at the front of the car.

Getting out at last, Steve gladly accepted the hug from her before turning back to his temporary protegé.

“That’s him?” Natasha inquired.

“Yup,” Steve answered before opening the backdoor and crouching down at Peter’s eye level. “Hey, Peter, may I introduce you to a good friend of mine? We’re gonna stay here for the night.” He lifted the kid out of the seat, settled the boy against his body and turned back to Natasha, “Say hi to Natasha,”

“Hi, Peter, I’m looking forward to get to know you.”

The boy only moved his head a bit, so he could get a look at this new person, and after a few moments, he gave Natasha a tentative wave,

“Okay, let’s get you boys inside. I think I have some cocoa powder in my kitchen.” Natasha turned back to Peter and Steve. “Unless he has some allergies?”

“Not that I know of.” Steve held out a manila folder. “His file.”

“You were watching his family for some time, right?”

“Yup, I’ll tell you more later.”

“Okay.”

*********************

Several minutes later, Peter was sitting at the kitchen table, a mug with warm cocoa in front of him, munching on some biskuits Darcy had brought along one day.

Watching him from the doorway, Natasha couldn’t help but notice the deep frown on Steve’s face.

“What’s with the face, Rogers?” she finally asked in a stage whisper.

“It’s about how he ended up in my care, Nat.”

“Tell me about it - if you can.”

“I will, just wanna get him into bed before.”

“Of course. While I was waiting for you boys, I was looking through all the stuff I bought ahead, and I happen to have some pajamas for his size, as well as some underwear.”

Only a couple of minutes later, Peter all but took a nosedive into his cocoa, and Steve took this as a surefire sign that it was bedtime for the little boy. As gentle as possible, he carried the boy up to the first floor and the big bedroom there, putting him down in the middle of the bed before turning on the baby monitor Natasha had handed him downstairs (which also doubled as part of the alarm system).

“Sleep tight, Peter, and sweet dreams,” he whispered into the boy’s head of curls before leaving the room and heading back downstairs.

“Out like a light,” Steve told Natasha while sitting down next to her on the large couch in the living room.

“Okay, tell me about him.”

“You could have read the file.”

“I could have, but what’s in there, are just cold, hard facts. Which is, as we both know, only half of the story.”

“Okay. So, Peter’s parents were employeés of Stark Industries.”

“Were?”

“They were murdered in their house over in Queens last night, and apparently, Peter has been a witness to it.”

“Oh my god, that poor child.”

“Yeah. When I got there, after a call from one of the officers that I’ve worked with before, the leading detective was hovering over the boy, trying to get him to talk. He even tried to do the same with me, thinking that a small man like me will cower in fear.”

“That’s where he went wrong, right?”

“Yup, that and the fact that I know the Deputy Commissioner of New York by her first name. One call from me to her, then one from her to the detective, and the case got reassigned.”

“You know quite a lot of influential people here in New York, don’t you?”

Yeah, and most of the time, it’s strictly business, except for Tony.”

“Tony as in Tony Stark?” Natasha echoed.

“Yeah. As you know, he’s an orphan, and one day, Pepper Potts, his CEO and fiancée, called my former boss, Nick Fury, to arrange a charity event for all social service agencies in town, including the orphanages. At first, I could see that Tony wasn’t completely on board with the idea, but once he saw how kids really live in orphanages these days, or how much work we put into getting them to good, loving families, he more or less took over. He founded a new charity, got all the big players in economy aboard, and it’s no strange sight anymore to find him either in one of the orphanages, or the Children’s Ward of any of the hospitals, or down in the cellar of the same building, diving into any of their appliances and devices and improving them.”

“Wow, and here I thought he was just one of those party billionaires, always looking for the next kick,” Natasha resumed.

“Yeah, something has caused a change of heart, so to speak.”

A wail coming from upstairs had them both running, and what they saw in the room broke both their hearts. The big bed was empty, but it took absolutely no time for them to locate Peter.

He was sitting in the corner behind the bed, one of the blankets from the bed draped over him, only the fingers of one hand being visible, his whole little body rocking back and forth.

“Peter?” Steve tried, crouching down several feet away from the kid. “Can you try and look at me?”

A negative sound came from beneath the blankets, causing Steve and Natasha to exchange a worried look.

“Hold on, Steve, I’ll be right back.”

And with that, Natasha was out of the room, hurrying up the stairs into the attic. A couple of days before, her and Melinda had been going through some old boxes that, according to Mel, contained some of the kids’ things that they couldn’t stomach to give away. And in one of these boxes, Natasha found her old, worn stuffed bunny, one of the first gifts she ever got in her young life.

Grabbing the bunny, Natasha hurried back to the bedroom, where Steve still tried to coax Peter out of hiding.

“Hey, Peter?” she called out, crouching down next to Steve, who gave the stuffed bunny a quizzical look. “Do you wanna know what helped me when I was your age and had these big and super-scary nightmares?”

At that, the blanket moved a bit, just enough to reveal the top of Peter’s head and one eye, that first fell on Natasha, but in a heartbeat zoomed in on the bunny in her hands.

“Mr. Ears here did the job, and he did it so good that I don’t need him anymore.”

Catching her eyes, Peter pointed at him, his brown eyes going large.

“Yes, of course you can have him. I even insist on it.” She pushed the bunny towards the boy. “He’s a good listener, Peter. God knows how many things I have told him over the years, and he never, ever spilled any of them to anyone.”

At last, the blanket fell completely, and Peter reached out for the stuffed animal, grabbing it by one large ear and cradling it close to his body.

Next to her, Steve visibly exhaled, Natasha following suit.

“You wanna go back to bed, buddy?” Steve asked, and now, he got a nod from the boy. Sliding forward on his knees, Steve turned the kid around before picking it up bridal style and laying it on the bed again.

Natasha came up with the blanket, covering the boy’s body before pressing a featherlight kiss into the curls.

“Why did you do that?” Steve asked once they were out in the hallway.

“You mean kissing his hair? When I was a kid, either Mel or Phil would do that, every night, without a break. Maybe it was just my imagination back then, but I always slept better, well, until I woke from a nightmare or another.”

“You never spoke about your past,” Steve added.

“To be honest, I still don’t know a lot about anything before I came here. I mean, I know that I’m a single child, and that something happened to my parents, but I can’t even find out what exactly that was.” Natasha went into her kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Does Peter has any relatives?”

“According to the SI file of his parents, there is an aunt, May, but so far, nobody could get a hold of her. Police thinks that either she is involved in the murder, or that she also fell victim. That’s why I agreed to become his temporary guardian."

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
